Square Enix, the developers behind the hugely successful “Final Fantasy” game series, began branching out into animated films in 1994 with the release of “Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.”         Since then, they’ve released seven total movies, with the most recent installment, “Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV” having been released in July 2016.
The premise of the newest film is that there is an evil empire called Niflheim, who is attempting to control all off the nations on the planet. The kingdom of Lucis is the only place that is not under their control. This is because the king of Lucis, King Regis, uses his magic to power a crystal that protects the kingdom in a barrier that Niflheim cannot penetrate.
The actual story follows a man named Nyx, who is a member of a special branch of the king’s armed forces called the Kingsglaive. A peace treaty is being arranged between Niflheim and Lucis but things are not what they seem and the situation quickly takes a turn for the worst. It’s up to Nyx to find out what is truly going on.
This movie is extremely unique in the sense that the events run parallel to the events of the upcoming video game “Final Fantasy XV.” In the game the player will get the chance to play through the events of the movie, intertwining the two in the type of intricate plot that Square Enix is known for. This movie itself has a lot of things going for it but also has some glaring issues. The characterization is somewhat lacking, leaving the audience with static, shallow characters that fail to invoke empathy in the viewer. Also the story is a challenge to follow without prior knowledge of the video games. Some of the dialog doesn’t quite make sense, as if the directors just assumed that the viewers would already know what the characters are talking about. However, the movie almost never takes a break. It’s fast paced, always moving forward, and there’s never a dull moment. The action scenes are amazingly well done and incredibly entertaining to watch.
If you do know about and enjoy the video games, then you will probably love this movie. All of the different elements combine beautifully to form a bigger picture. Also, the movie is computer animated, but you probably wouldn’t be able to tell at first. The visual effects are absolutely stunning and look incredibly realistic. Some shots in the movie had me forgetting that I was watching a computer animated film. I would definitely recommend this film to fans of over the top action movies, or fans of the “Final Fantasy” games.